A manual of home-making

The main part of the meals of each day should consist of simply prepared, mild-flavortM!, noo-stimulating, and easily dige^sted foods. Well-cooked cereals, thoroughly baked, sweet- flavored f>read| potatoes, milk, eggs, fresh, succulent vegetables and fruits should constitute the background of the dietary. Meats and meat soupsi candies, preserves, desserts, cakes and other sweets, rich sauces^ picklest and condiments should l>e used in mwJeration to give color and interest to the dietarv^ ; they should not furnish the bulk of the food at any one meal Milk should be used liberally in order to replace a part of the meat in the average dietary, and Ijccause, of all fcKxls, it is richest in lime. Milk is the cheapest animal food; and since some animal food is necessary, milk should l>e the first to be considered. It has building materials w^hich are of sj>ecial value for constructing young human tissue. No other food con- tains as much lime. It is also tho most important source of two necessary growth-promoting factors (page 412). It tends to hold in check abnormal changet^ in the intestine. It is mild in flavor and lends itself to a variety of uses. When it under- goes normal souring, it still is of value and may be used in many ways. If possible, provision should be ma<le to supply each child in the family with a (juart of clr!iii, wliolesome milk every day. A pint of inilk for each adult is desiralile if tlie meat cousum|> tinu is low. If it is imf)ossib!e to supply tv^ much milk iis this for butii children and adults, tlie children shouhl recciv^<^ a pint of milk each, while the amount for the adults may be reduced to a cupful apiece. If the milk supply for the family must be 426 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKING Ik he i a I reduced still furtJier» the milk should be given to the children, since the adults can eat tToarner foods. Less than a pint of milk a day for each child is a very iimalJ allowance and is likely t^ result in some fomi of malnutrition. No milk at all for the child means, without doubts malnutrition, unless knowledge and skill are combined in planning a correct and much moi expensive dietary. If it is impossible to obtain whole-milk, skim-milk is better than no milk, even for little children, although the child on a skim-milk diet will not grow so normally as one fe<l on w*holi milk. The milk may l>e used as a beverage, or it may l>e cookei in various ways. The correct amount, not the form in which ii is used, is the important |X)iiit, If the family must oe*onomi«e,1 the amount of butter may lie reduced, but tlie amount of milt should at the same time l>e increiksed to insure the correct total of the fat-soluble growth-promoting factor. Clean, sweet, skim-milk is as valuable as whole-milk for t supply of lime, its good type of prot-eiii, it.s water-soluble growt promoting factor and for a part of its fat-soluble growth-pn mottng factor. Skim-milk has a lower ejierK>' value than doe whole-milk because of the loss of its fat. Half of its fat-solubl growth-promoting factor is lost with the fat; therefore, skim milk has not the same growt h-j)romoting p^iwer ils whole-milk] although it still contains gn3v\i:h-promoting properties. For this reason, children should have whole-milk instead of skim milk.